The Rangers' starter exchanged words with the Blue Jays' center fielder during the fifth inning of Texas' 4-1 loss, and Lewis voiced his displeasure to reporters in a postgame scrum over what he deemed was a selfish act.

Rasmus, who singled and later scored off Lewis in the fourth, laid down a bunt with two outs and Toronto up, 2-0, in the fifth, with the Rangers playing the shift on him. Lewis fielded the ball, but Rasmus reached first base safely and was credited with an infield single.

"I told [Rasmus] I didn't appreciate it," Lewis said. "You're up by two runs with two outs and you lay down a bunt. I don't think that's the way the game should be played."

When pressed further on what the problem with Rasmus' bunt was, Lewis insinuated that the outfielder put himself before his team.

"I felt like you have a situation where there is two outs, you're up two runs, you have gotten a hit earlier in the game off me, we are playing the shift, and he laid down a bunt basically simply for average," Lewis said.

The bunt itself wasn't the only thing that bothered Lewis, who threw five innings of two-run ball, falling to 6-7 on the season. Lewis felt that if Rasmus was going to bunt in that situation, he should have been taking off for second once he reached base.

"[Rasmus] didn't steal within the first two pitches to put himself in scoring position," Lewis said. "That tells me he is solely looking out for himself, and looking out for batting average. And I didn't appreciate it."

Lewis said he believes Rasmus knew he made a mistake based on what he said to the pitcher on the field.

"Whatever, he thought he could say two words the whole time, which is whatever, which is what most people respond with when they know they are in the wrong," Lewis said.

"I'm just trying to help my team and he didn't like that -- so sorry about it," Rasmus said. "I'm not here to try to please the other side, I'm here to help my team, and I had an opportunity where I could and I took advantage of it."

Chris Toman is a contributor to MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.